IIT Delhi Industry Day laid emphasis on investing in innovation-led economy to develop India’s competitive advantage

New Delhi: Stressing on the need to strengthen industry-academia linkages to boost growth, the 3rd edition of IIT Delhi Industry Day opened here today. Distinguished speakers at the inaugural session acknowledged the need to accelerate investment in innovation-led economy to boost growth and develop competitive advantage for India in the global market.
Chief Guest at the Industry Day, Dr. V. K. Paul, Member, NITI Aayog inaugurated the day-long event at IIT Delhi. He was joined by Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi,Prof. Anurag S.Rathore, Dean, Corporate Relations and other senior IITD functionaries.
The inaugural session was attended by business leaders, research community, delegates from Finland and Japan and IIT Delhi faculty.
Addressing the inaugural session Dr. V.K. Paul, Member, NITI Aayog, said, “India’s national progress is crucially dependent on the science we discover and understand, on technologies we can create and manufacture, and on products our people can use and access. It needs innovation – both frugal and disruptive – and this discourse is to be imbibed by us in our system.”
He gave an example of the medical devices market, which is currently worth USD 7-8 billion in India. “Seventy-five per cent of this demand is met by imports. However, considering the talent and potential India has, this market can be worth US$ 50 billion in India; and only innovation can achieve that,” he said.
Dr. Paul said that government programmes like Ayushman Bharat will be innovator’s delight and broaden the scope of innovation in public health delivery.
He also stressed on the idea of launching exchange programmes between medical institutions like AIIMS and IIT-Delhi on critical health issues, which can support immersion programmes of IIT Delhi.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi, called upon the industry to collaborate with the academia.
Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao said, “The role of the industry primarily was to develop products, and that of the academia to focus on education and research. But that’s changing now. Academia is expected to develop products through innovation. Innovation has now been added to our mandate in a major way. Academia and industry need to collaborate on research and innovation on products, which can benefit the society.”
Prof. Rao added, “IIT Delhi is not only looking for collaborations with the industry but IIT Delhi also wants the industry to treat it as part of their innovation ecosystem.”
He also said that very soon there would be more diploma & certificate programmes for the industry that can be pursued online from IIT Delhi. This will open up opportunities for private companies to collaborate with research community of IIT Delhi.
He also thanked the government for expanding the scope of corporate spending under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) norms, “which will boost research funding in the institutions like IIT Delhi and promote collaborations between the academia and the industry.”
Prof. Anurag S. Rathore, Dean, Corporate Relations, IIT Delhi, said, “A productive academic-industry relationship is the necessary foundation for the long-term development of India. Academia needs to step up to demonstrate their scientific and engineering capabilities as well as their ability to channel their ability into focused development of products and technologies. Industry too needs to play a critical role in partnering on the co-development and later in commercialization of these outcomes. The objective of this year’s Industry Day is to demonstrate technical research capabilities, forge new collaborative relationships and further strengthen our existing partnerships.”
Industry Day 2019 witnessed a placement session organized exclusively for the institute’s Ph.D. students in which 17 companies interviewed more than 70 students.
The IIT Delhi research community showcased large number of research-based prototypes and posters to industry leaders who attended the event.
The flagship event of the institute witnessed discussions and deliberations by industry experts and academia on five thematic sessions that include Clean Energy for Sustainable Economy and Environment, Sustainable Medical Technologies, Emerging Nano and Advanced Materials, Sustainable Environment, and Make in India.
The five thematic sessions and a session on “Women in Science” during Industry Day 2019 brought together more than 500 experts from Industry and 100 IIT Delhi faculty members.